NVIDIA announced a $1 billion equity investment in Finnish telecom giant Nokia, taking a 2.9% stake and triggering a 22% surge in Nokia’s share price. This marks a strategic partnership focused on accelerating AI and next-generation wireless technology development, including 5G-Advanced and 6G networks.
Nokia plans to issue over 166 million new shares at $6.01 each, with proceeds earmarked to support AI-related initiatives and general corporate purposes. The deal highlights Nokia’s pivot from traditional phone manufacturing to becoming a key supplier of 5G cellular equipment and AI-driven networking solutions.
The collaboration aims to optimize Nokia’s 5G and emerging 6G software to run on NVIDIA’s AI chip architecture, jointly creating AI-RAN (Radio Access Network) products to enhance telecom infrastructure. Nokia also intends to explore integrating its data center switching and optical technologies into NVIDIA’s future AI infrastructure.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang underscored the partnership’s role in pioneering AI-native wireless networks and enabling new AI services amid the explosive growth of mobile AI traffic. U.S. telecom provider T-Mobile is already collaborating with both companies to advance its 6G initiatives leveraging this technology.
This investment aligns with NVIDIA’s broad strategy of strengthening ties with leading technology firms. Recent commitments include $5 billion into Intel, $100 billion into OpenAI, and investments in autonomous vehicle and cloud startups.
Nokia’s elevated stock price reflects investor confidence in its role at the intersection of AI and telecom innovation, while NVIDIA consolidates its leadership across AI hardware and infrastructure markets. This partnership signals a new phase in building AI-powered global telecommunications.
The strategic alliance is expected to accelerate 6G commercialization and set a foundation for AI-driven networking solutions powering future smart cities, IoT, and edge computing ecosystems.
